Wiltshire Wickapops
by Luna Obsessed
Summary: Luna Lovegood stared up in awe at the huge building before her. It towered above her like most things in her life, ruling over her forever.


_Authors Notes: This is a fic for a D/L round robin contest...it had to be set before Hogwarts, at the Malfoy Manor but not a party, and include Mrs. Lovegood, a broken hairbrush and cross dressing. These were **Crzyangelchic**'s ideas_._ They were hard requirements to work with, but hopefully I've succeeded and the story isn't too bad. - _

**Wiltshire Wickapops **

Luna Lovegood stared up in awe at the huge building before her... It towered above her like most things in her life, ruling over her forever.

What appeared to be two women followed the girl. One of them looked almost identical to her daughter, only older. The other was a different story, however.

This person was dressed in extremely outlandish clothes. A skirt coloured in orange with horrendous purple flowers adorning the material. A stretched woollen jumper in green stretched across the chest and a bright pink hat drooped over the brow. The hat sported several feathers in flamboyant colours, sure to catch the attention of anyone passing by.

With a head of red curls, she looked nothing like the little girl in front of her, except for the eyes. Both of them shared a resemblance through their eyes, a protuberant silvery grey, both holding some unknown significance.

Again, someone passing by may have thought it was just coincidence that they were identical eyes. But the most likely reason was the simple fact that the two pairs of pupils were related.

For this supposed woman, was Luna Lovegood's father.

Luna and her parents were standing outside the Malfoy Manor of Wiltshire. They were here on business, investigating the existence of the Wiltshire Wickapops, for a most important article to be written for next month's _Quibbler_.

Mr. Lovegood was sure after their last expedition that the Wiltshire Wickapops only appeared around females, which explained why he was dressed in his eccentric woman's outfit.

"Well, I'm not quite sure which rooms have fireplaces, so we'll just have to sneak in and look around…"

Mrs. Lovegood frowned. "How are we going to sneak in, dear?"

"Simple charm, darling, not to worry! This way now, come on, Luna!"

Luna followed her parents, taking a small book from her pocket. She did her best to be faithful to her father, but with so many remarkable creatures around, she occasionally forgot which was which.

_Quibblian Creatures and Where to Find Them_, Luna read. It was the free gift for this month's _Quibbler. _

She flipped through the thin pages, catching snippets of information here and there.

_Mankestrals adore grass. Blibbering Humdingers like to store coal in their cheeks. Gnutbails originated from Western Europe. _

Then finally she came to the 'W's, ran her finger down the page and began to read as she walked.

_Wickapop_

_The Wickapop is a creature unknown to most of the Wizarding World. Even years after its discovery in 1961, people find it difficult to believe in its existence, but all of us with good vision will recognise Wickapops to be pesky little creatures with extensive tongues. _

_Not only do they pull your hair out when given the chance, they also tend to bite you in several unpleasant places whilst you are being transported through the Floo Network._

_Wickapops are only found in fireplaces, but most often you won't come across them until you've thrown the powder in and are in the process of moving through the flames._

_Wickapops are hard to be rid of, and it is recommended that you take protection with you on your travels._

Luna pocketed the book and looked up. Her parents had disappeared. She looked in all directions, but there was nobody to be seen – except for a snake, slithering along the flagstones.

After a short moment of consideration, Luna decided to follow it. The snake came to a halt when she approached, and she bent down to pat it, unaware of the dangers.

As soon as her small palm touched the scaly skin, the snake transformed. There was an odd sound, and a flash of green. A boy of nine or ten stood before Luna, stroking his pale blonde hair back into place. He wore what looked to Luna like a formal black robe, although to the boy it was play clothing. A definite frown was fixed upon his face, eyebrows slanting in an unusual manner as if he were angry and confused about something..

"Wow!" Luna exclaimed as she looked up at the boy with admiration.

He eyed her with a superior air, yet he couldn't help coming across as miserable and tired, too. "Who are you and what are you doing on my father's property?"

"I am Luna Lovegood and I am looking for the Wiltshire Wickapops. What about you?"

"What about me?" he replied, forgetting to query the 'Wickapops'.

"Who are you and why are you on my father's property?"

He stared at her, a long hard look of incredulity…and something else, to which a name couldn't quite be located.

She stared back unblinkingly.

Eventually, he answered, "I am Draco Malfoy, and this is my father's property, not yours, and I live here, so there!"

There was a vague air of pride about him, but Luna couldn't help wondering why the area around his eyes was red and blotchy. "How did you do that snake thing?"

"I'm an abimapus," he said, looking confused at his own words.

"Abimapus? What's that?"

"Someone who can, umm, change into an animal…"

"I thought people who could do that were called animagus, not abimapus." Her intelligent eyes bore into his. She smiled. "You can tell me, Draco. There's nothing to be afraid of."

He sighed and began to walk. Luna followed, and he began to speak. "My father turned me into a snake because I was bad…I felt sick during lunch and disrupted the meal, so he got angry. He told me I had to stay in this cage thing all day – as a snake – whilst he and mother are out. The glass of the cage just broke…it was weird, I was just staring at it…well, I escaped. Obviously the spell broke when you errm…" he trailed off and opened an elaborately decorated door leading into the Malfoy manor.

Luna hesitated outside, and he shrugged.

"Come in if you want. Nobody's here unless you count the house-elves."

He didn't really know why he wanted her to come in. He got lonely and perhaps this Luna girl could keep him entertained for a few hours. Besides, if his parents got back early, then he could use her as an excuse for being out of his cage and so on…

Luna followed him through into a huge room, some sort of entrance hall.

"Coat," Draco stated, pausing by a coat stand situated near the staircase.

"What about them? They are rather nice, aren't they? I prefer hot chocolate when it comes to keeping warm, though."

"I meant pass me your coat," he replied and turned to look at her again.

Long straggly hair in a dirty-blonde colour hung down her back, and she was wearing a pale blue frock, patterned with clouds. She wouldn't have looked too bad, if it wasn't for the outlandish accessories ornating her.

"You're not wearing a coat, or cloak or even a jumper!"

"No, I'm not," Luna replied with a smile.

"What do you wear when you're cold then?"

"I have a very nice dressing-gown, actually."

He rolled his eyes in irritation. "What do you wear when you go out and it's cold?"

"My dressing-gown, it's very cosy."

He stared at her for a long minute before making an odd sound and walking on.

"It's a very big house," Luna said as they began to climb a long flight of stairs.

"Well, it is quite big, I suppose…how many rooms does _your_ house have?"

Luna paused to count them up. Well, there was the kitchen and living-space - a room combined which took up the whole of downstairs. Then there was the bathroom, her

parent's bedroom, her own bedroom and her father's study upstairs.

"Well, five I suppose but if you count the –"

"_Five_?" Draco exclaimed, looking flabbergasted. "Marlot Malfoy! Five rooms! That's impossible, absurd, ludicrous –"

"Why?" Luna didn't look at all offended; simply interested to find out why he thought it so ridiculous.

He hurried up the last few stairs until he came to the top and stared down at Luna, who was at least ten steps behind. "I see," he said coldly.

"See what?" Luna asked.

"You," he began, "are poor, are you not?"

"Poor? No, I'm lucky really."

"Do your parents have lots of money?"

"I don't think we have _heaps _of sickles…"

He rolled his eyes. "Honestly!" A moment later it struck him: he had invited a pauper into his house. A _pauper_ for goodness sake! This kind of behaviour could have him in snake form for months! Well, if he didn't get her out of here quickly…although they weren't due to be back for several hours, and he hadn't had company with someone his own age for…years?

"My father would kill me if he knew someone like you was standing in his home."

"Oh dear, then I had better leave, hadn't I?" Luna said, looking anxiously at him.

"Well…yes…but umm let me show you this…thing, first!" He didn't know at the time what it was that had made him say that. A mere eight year-old naturally wouldn't. But when the memory haunted him in years to come, he knew it was attraction.

His first childhood crush – whether he knew it or not – had developed that very day.

"Okay, but I don't want to be responsible for your death, Draco!"

"You won't be," he replied almost silently. Of course it would be Luna to die; he could probably get away with a beating. Although…he wasn't quite sure where his parents were going today, but he knew after a visit to the Wiltshire Wart, they always ended up either ridiculously happy or unbearably angry. It was the usually the latter, though. He shuddered.

"What do you want to show me?" Luna asked, a small smile playing around her lips. It was almost as if she knew…

Draco pulled himself up tall, and looked around the upstairs landing desperately. He grabbed an old milk jug from an oak dresser. "This," he said, in his best try at a solemn tone.

"Wow!"

She looks genuinely interested, Draco thought to himself. It wasn't a sarcastic remark, like any other girl would have made it.

Luna obviously believed that there was an interesting story hidden behind the green china, chipped and dusty as it was.

Dusty…yes!

"Every time you blow a speck of dust…you're granted a wish!" He tried to put as much enthusiasm as he could into the sentence, and it seemed to have worked.

Luna opened her mouth, surprised and delighted. "Really? I've heard about that, but in this case it was a teapot not a milk jug."

"Mhm, well it works on teapots usually, but this is a very special milk jug," he lied. Why hadn't he just taken a teapot and be done with it?

"You can make a wi-"

A scream, followed by an outburst of unpleasant language erupted.

"Oh da– Luna, I think my parents are back…"

She smiled. "I don't suppose they would want to meet me, because you said they'd kill you if…" She trailed off, unsure of where she was going.

"I've got to get you out of here! And I'm supposed to be a snake…in a cage!" He shook his head, panicking over what he should do next.

"I could leave," Luna suggested. "But my parents are in here somewhere and I can't go anywhere without them…."

"Your _parents_ are here? Where? Why? How? WHAT?"

"Which room has the biggest fireplace?"

"Probably the dining-room but it's hard to be – why do you need to know, anyway?"

"Nevermind that now, I just need – Daddy!"

Mr. Lovegood was racing up the staircase, definitely in a panic.

Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy stood at the foot of the stairs, fuming with anger.

"Get a move on, you freak!" Lucius barked. The air filled with the smell of his breath, stale and foul. The smell of a few too many firewhiskeys.

Draco blinked rapidly and thrust the green milk jug into Luna's hands. "Take it," he said urgently.

She put it into her dress pocket and smiled. "Thank you, Draco Malfoy."

Mr. Lovegood reached the landing and grabbed his daughter's hand. "Come _on_, Luna!" He dragged her down the steps, pulling at her wrist, but a smile stayed on her placid face.

As they glided down the staircase, Mr. Lovegood's wig of red curls flew off landing on Lucius's head. Lucius squawked in anger, but nobody was listening to him. Mrs. Lovegood, who had been hovering in a corner, stepped forward.

"Luna," she whispered as her daughter ran across the room to embrace her, "come on, let's –" She broke off as something hit her on the back. It was a hairbrush made of stone; more of an ornamental object than a real hairbrush. It fell to the floor and one by one the prongs fell out.

Narcissa smiled an innocent smile at Mrs. Lovegood. "You can't just walk into someone's house and do what you like. Charms alerted us as soon as you set foot in the building…there was just a slight delay in our arrival." She shot a look at her husband. "You're lucky we haven't informed the Ministry, really –"

"Narcissa, we would have asked if it had come across our minds. If I found you in our home, I would offer you tea, I would not throw a stone object at you. I'm sure you have your reasons, but if you thought you've sent us crawling, then you are wrong. We will back in Wiltshire and we will find living proof of the Wickapops themselves. It hasn't been such a bad visit this time. Good day." Mrs. Lovegood turned and walked out of the Malfoy manor.

Mr. Lovegood attempted a glare at Lucius. He thought he owed it to his wife, but he had never been a very angry person and wasn't about to start.

Luna lifted her right hand in a waving motion to Draco, then followed her parents outside.

Mr. Lovegood comforted his wife, and Luna held her hand as they walked away, but her mind was on other things.

"So, you didn't find any Wickapops then, Mummy?"

The woman smiled. "Your father actually did find some soot in a fireplace…it was green, which means Wickapops have been there! We've taken some samples…this is going to be a huge story!"

"And how does a speck of soot per issue sound, for a free gift?" Mr. Lovegood asked his daughter.

"It sounds…wonderful," she said merrily and they walked out of the driveway as a happy family. Three sets of hands linked together, three smiles on three faces and three springs in three steps would show that to anyone who passed, though. There was no need for words to describe it.

Draco stared gloomily at his parents as they ascended the staircase. Pure hatred was shown on their faces, and he knew it was too late to hide now. They always found him in the end, anyway. He gazed at the broken hairbrush, lying on the floor below.

It had no problems, no worries, no heart. If only he could be that broken lump of stone for a day.

He glanced at the dusty teapot on the dresser. "You can make a wish, if you like," he whispered to himself, and to Luna Lovegood although she could not hear it.

He blew through his lips, and a sparkle of dust from the teapot flew from its place. He closed his eyes and wished.

As he opened them again and sucked in his cheeks, ready to face his parents, he thought about it. Of course there was no point wishing for the impossible; his parents would never change their ways.

But maybe, just maybe, the wish he had made would come true.

Just maybe.

**The End**


End file.
